The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha has arrested a couple, Ashirbad Pattnaik and Manogyan Pattnaik, for their alleged involvement in a bank fraud case amounting to Rs 1.3 crore in Bhubaneswar.
The couple was arrested following a complaint filed by Sushant Nayak, Regional Head of the Financial Crime Prevention Group at ICICI Bank Ltd. Bhubaneswar. According to the allegations, Ashirbad and Manogyan Pattnaik fraudulently availed a loan of Rs. 1.5 crore against property mortgaged to ICICI Bank, Link Road Branch in Cuttack. They mortgaged two flats and a duplex in Bhubaneswar to secure the loan.
It was later revealed that these same properties had previously been mortgaged to Indian Bank, Ashok Nagar Branch in Bhubaneswar, for a Rs. 3.79 crore loan under the name of “AB Solutions,” a business owned by Ashirbad Pattnaik. The couple had used fake/forged documents to obtain the earlier loan in 2018.
While both loans were still running, Ashirbad and Manogyan Pattnaik again secured a loan of Rs. 1.5 crore against the same mortgaged properties through three loan accounts from ICICI Bank. To further deceive, Ashirbad Pattnaik sold one of the mortgaged flats to a person named Leena Appicatlaa, executing a sale deed and performing an internal loan balance transfer to Leena’s name within ICICI Bank.
The fraudulent activity came to light when Indian Bank began legal proceedings to take possession of the mortgaged flat due to a default in loan repayment. ICICI Bank subsequently suffered a wrongful loss of Rs. 1.3 crore, as the properties were already mortgaged to another bank, causing a financial setback for ICICI Bank.
The EOW continues its investigation into the case, and further legal actions are expected to follow against the accused.
